Almanac

Viewpoint - December 7, 2011

Letter: Second big mistake by Board of Supervisors?

In December 1961, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, under pressure from business interests, voted to withdraw our county from the Bay Area Rapid Transit District. The result is that we are not in the system that serves most of the Bay Area.

What a shortsighted decision by our then Board of Supervisors this turned out to be. Those of us on the Peninsula are at a great disadvantage from the board's bowing to a minority interest without regard to the broader public interest.

Now, our Board of Supervisors has an opportunity to do better than its predecessor. The board has a $10 million offer from Stanford University to study and perhaps solve a county problem at no cost to the county.

The proposed two-phase C-1 trail project would focus on the congested Alpine Road corridor from Junipero Serra Boulevard south to the Portola Valley town limits. The first phase would study existing problems and possible solutions. While the focus would be on the deteriorated county bicycle path along Alpine Road, it should also address the problems Stanford Weekend Acres residents have to access Alpine Road, including provision for appropriate traffic signals.

The construction phase would occur only upon concurrence of the Board of Supervisors. In other words, the board would have the final say. We need our Board of Supervisors to look ahead, consider the broad public interest and not make a shortsighted decision. If the study does not move ahead, a major opportunity will have been lost. Our board needs to have the courage to look at the broad public interest and be a leader.

George Mader

The author lives in Ladera and is a planning consultant to Portola Valley.